Chatham County DA to appeal Ashleigh Moore case dismissal

Prosecutors have filed notice they will appeal a judge’s ruling throwing out the indictment against Bobby Lavon Buckner in the 2003 abduction-slaying of 12-year-old Ashleigh Moore.

Chatham County Superior Court Judge Penny Haas Freesemann dismissed the murder-kidnapping indictment on May 30, ruling the state has violated Buckner’s right to a speedy trial by repeated delays. In a notice of appeal filed in Chatham County Superior Court on Thursday afternoon, Chief Assistant District Attorney David Perry said the office will appeal the ruling to the Georgia Supreme Court.

The basic filing set no specific points but asked the Supreme Court to review the order. Both prosecutors and the defense will file briefs in Atlanta outlining specifics of their respective sides.

But in a press release Monday afternoon, prosecutors said the issue will be whether Freesemann “abused her discretion” by making erroneous findings of fact or relied on material unsupported by the record, or whether her findings misstated or misapplied the law.

The record revealed a number of defense requests for continuances not reflected in the judge’s order nor were continuances created by the judge’s absence or own scheduling issues.

It said Buckner’s attorneys made requests for continuances for such things as out-of-state speaking engagements and conflicts with another trial in Augusta.

The statement also noted a lack of due diligence by Buckner’s lawyers in examining the evidence from 2007 until 2011.

Chisolm’s office made every effort to expedite the case, the statement said. It also denied that the state sought the death penalty to delay the case from going to trial.

The death penalty was abandoned only after further review during motions hearings and a number of evidentiary issues which arose, the prosecutor’s office said.

Buckner’s attorney, Newell Hamilton Jr. with the Georgia Capital Defender’s office in Brunswick, said he plans to file responsive pleadings in Chatham County Superior Court next week.

Moore’s family members — aunt Stacy Marcus and grandmother, Willie Mae Berry — urged Chisolm following Freemann’s ruling to “roll the dice” and get the case before the Georgia Supreme Court.

“We’re very happy that they are moving forward,” Ms. Marcus said Monday. “I’ve asked for it. I’m happy they did it.”

Moore, a 12-year-old DeRenne Middle School honor student, disappeared from her Weiner Drive home early April 18, 2003. Her body was found about three weeks later near the Savannah Marriott Riverfront.

Buckner, the 36-year-old boyfriend of Ashleigh’s mother, Michelle Moore, last was scheduled for trial on June 11 on charges of murder, felony, murder and kidnapping with bodily injury in the third indictment in the case.

In her ruling, Freesemann found that Buckner was not indicted for the crimes until Dec. 12, 2007, and that since the first indictment about 53 months have passed without Buckner being tried. She found that to be “presumptively prejudicial.”

Freesemann found in concerning that the state announced on the eve of trial on April 4, 2011 — nearly eight years after the crimes — that it was seeking the death penalty, then four months later withdrew it “at least partially on the basis that the state discovered problems with the evidence.”

She faulted both the defense and state but said the “prejudice as a result of the delay all weigh against the state.”

Buckner remains in custody at the Chatham County jail under a sentence in an unrelated case.